Snakes 2012

[onionsack]

That's me with a false viper.

[onionsack]

A juvenile Boiga kraepelini (Square-headed Cat Snake)

[onionsack]

A short clip of a False Viper (Macropisthodon rudis rudis)...

[onionsack]

Here's a Bungarus multicinctus (Many-banded krait) foraging in a rice paddy ditch:

[Jah Lynnie]

Encountered one of those up in the hills above LuLuGu a few weeks ago. I was staying in the ground floor of an abandoned farmhouse and after watching fireflies went into the kitchen where the krait appeared from around the corner.It made me think that watching fireflies is pretty risky! Do you know the fatality rankings and other data for the various venomous snakes in Taiwan?

[Super Hans]

Got up close and personal with this chap a few nights ago. It is a juvenile Habu which almost ran over.

[onionsack]

Unbelievably fortuitous discovery this past Sunday in Baling: a MacClelland's Coral Snake (Sinomicrurus macclellandi swinhoei). This was a "lifer" for me: the first time I'd ever come across this tiny, reclusive elapid in the wild. I likely never would have even seen the little guy had I not first run into 賴志明, a vastly experienced Taiwanese herper, who happened to be on the same hill at the same time with a large group of his acolytes. I came across 志明's group as they were all huddled around a handsome, albeit fairly ordinary habu. While we were chatting, there was a commotion up the street from several members of his group, and as we approached, it became clear what all the fuss was about: A Formosan Wolf snake (Lycodon ruhstrati ruhstrati) had been spotted in a shallow ditch, and less than a meter away, a resplendent Coral Snake. Ordinarily the Wolf Snake would have elicited at least a minor cheer of triumph, but compared to the Coral, it might as well have been a worm. I never even bothered to look at it twice, much less film it, so transfixed was I by the utter majesty of the coral. These nocturnal snakes spend their lives almost entirely out of view, far under the leaf litter foraging for tiny snakes and lizards to eat. It's hard to overstate the sense of reverent awe you feel when you're finally granted a glimpse of such a marvelous creature.

[finley]

Amazing photo, Hans. For some reason the YouTube video links have stopped working again (Chrome), which is annoying.

[Tazzie]

Today's visitor --

[Pingdong]

onionsack, very nice. that would of made my day too! never seen one myself, and doubt i ever will. gotta say, it couldnt of picked a better place to be found

have a question for your opinion. got a snake in our shelf the other day and got a rude awakening when I went to get somethign. it was dark at night and I went fast to go find my snake hook (burried under endless crap) and when i got back it was gone.

it was 60-80cm im guessing, about 3cm thick, think cornsnake propertion but not well fed. it was fast, not a viper for sure. it would strike and hiss incredibly loud. very aggressive but not chasing. it climbed incredibly well. this is near mountins and farmland in Pingdong about 150m.